M.G. Matt Syal
Kweku Ofei-Amoh
Michigan State University

Industrial Revolution
Every home makes compromises among different and often competing goals: comfort, convenience, durability, energy consumption, maintenance, construction costs, appearance, strength, community acceptance, and resale value. Often, consumers and developers making the tradeoffs among these goals do so with incomplete information, increasing the risks and slowing the adoption of innovative products and processes. This slow diffusion negatively affects productivity, quality, performance, and value. This department of Cityscape presents, in graphic form, a few promising technological improvements to the U.S. housing stock. If you have an idea for a future department feature, please send your diagram or photograph, along with a few, well-chosen words, to elizabeth.a.cocke@hud.gov.

The material in this article is part of a report completed by the authors and commissioned by ELECTRI International, the research foundation of the National Electrical Contractors Association. The report, "Smart Grid: Installation and Construction Management Aspects for Electrical Contractors," is available at http:// www.electri.org/research/smart-grid-installation-and-construction-management-aspects-electrical-contractors.